Anyone starting IVF soon? Join me (2)

[purplemeggie]

I see we've filled up the thread and thought I'd better start another one. How's everyone doing?

... and good luck Farfall and Hen

Hello!

Really quick post from me, but I do hope everyone is well?

So, as of yesterday (day 3), we had 5 x 8 cell grade 1 embies and 1x 7 cell grade 2.

Hence I am now in hotel in London ready for day 5 ET tomorrow. eeeek!

Thanking myself over and over again for choosing GA for the procedure though, I'm terrified enough as it is!

I'll update tomorrow, can't shake the fear that they will all throw in the towel overnight and there will be nothing to transfer in the morning!

Good luck, BPH!!! Positive thoughts only, right?! (Are you going to take the aspirin?)

Purple, I found the same when I was doing acupuncture. I don't really suffer from depression, but I remember more than once ringing MrGH after a session and announcing that I just felt so buoyant! I wish I could do it more often. (I have to choose between yoga and acupuncture and yoga's been winning.)

farfall, if it's any reassurance, I too have read that embryos will do better in the uterus that in the worlds best culture medium. Hopefully you get good news about how great they look at your day 2 transfer and that gives you some reassurance.

Emma how did your scan go? Those pesky fibroids staying away?

Battery. AMAZING results so far. Can you remind me what your infertility diagnosis was again?? Doesn't seem like you should have one with every single egg fertilisng and then every single one still going strong at day 3. Please give a quick update when you get a chance... and then send some of your quality egg producing magic my way please as I start my stims today.

Okay, my acupuncturist has written down some points for me that I must google. She told me that studies show acupressure (me applying pressure to the area) has the same effect if done daily. Not sure if it helps but it's free so it can't hurt, will help to pass the time and will help me feel like I am doing something productive instead of just waiting for my scan.

Good luck battery! Everything's going well so far so stay positive!

Shellster let us know where these acupressure points are. If it's easy and free, I'm in!

Very quick update, am in lister awaiting ET!

Just had call from embryologist who says we have 3 definite blasts and one that 'looks like it's trying to do something'

Anyway, I will shortly be wheeled off to have 2 transferred! One is grade 5AB and the other 2BC, but she said the lower grading of the second is probably a timing issue and that there is every chance it will catch up...yikes!

DH has low(ish) count and motility but good morphology, it looks like this has been the problem, but it doesn't really strike me as bring serious enough to cause 4 years of infertility IYSWIM? Think there is a bit of 'unexplained' in there too, just for good measure likes

Battery those sound like excellent embies! Here is hoping for a calm 2ww for you!

I have 2 embies on board , they are average quality apparently but had the right number of cells 2 and 3 which is what they expect at this stage, should be 4 by this evening!
I think the chances of success with this quality are pretty slim but we have done all we can now. Have eaten some pineapple and Brazil nuts and I am taking it easy!

farfall, great that you have made it this far. So the 3rd egg is still in the lab growing or didn't make it?

Battery, you are in the position I am have only dreamed of being in with 2 blasts on board. Today is day 3 for me so I hope I am there in a few weeks time just as you are getting your BFP

Oh, Blue, here are the points she wrote down for me:
Du20
Li4
P6
Sp6
Sp9
CV3
CV6
St29 and St27 alternating treatments (one one day, the other the next)
Liv3
I looked up their location online. Very difficult to explain position of points so I will let you look them up yourself.

While I was looking up the points last night, I stumbled across this which showed after 5 weeks of acupuncture, mens motility increased from 44.5 to 50% and the number of healthy sperm jumped from 40,000 to 200,000. Obviously not your issue Blue, but I thought I would mention for anyone else whose men don't have great swimmers. Certainly made me more of an acupuncture believer with a study to back it up. So I will do these points daily on my hubby up until he makes his IVF deposit. I just told him my acupuncture showed me these points for general stress as I didn't want to de-masculate him by saying I am doing this for his dud sperm.

Good luck Hen and Farfall - all sounding good for both of you x

Delurking to say Good luck Hen and Farfalla x

Hi All,

I am new here and after 6 different ivf/ icsi protocols still not pregnant :-(
There is no problem found.. The only problem will be my eggs as I am already 43.
As we got pregnant last year naturally we still don't want to give it up but still searching for the right protocol and things to improve egg quality.

Shellster, you have a pm from me

For everybody, I wish you lots of success in all stages of this difficult proccess.

Good luck to all of you !!

Thanks so much to everyone for the good luck vibes - I just so hope it will be a BFP for us. I am expecting the worst, but hoping for the best. I guess that is all I can do at this stage!

So Farfalla We are in exactly the same boat then, ET on sat 22nd?

The question is, which one of us will crack and POAS first (will more than likely be me, I know what I'm like) Will try to hold out until Friday 28th which would be 11DPEC, but doubt will make it. Have you been given a test date?

Hello Whoppie lovely to meet you

I guess that's one of the good things about a day 5 transfer - the 2ww actually becomes more or less a 1ww

Thanks Shellster, I'll check those out. Can't see any harm in giving it a go, especially whilst I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting for AF to arrive.

Battery can't remember if this is your first cycle or not but my advice to you is STAY AWAY from the pee sticks! Wait until your test date if you can. If you test early and get a BFN you'll get obsessed with false negatives. Everyone does and it will drive you mental!

Battery, I agree that one good thing about a day 5 transfer is that the wait is less. And when I had a day 2 transfer with a BFN, I never knew where things went wrong. With a day 5 this time (hopefully!) I know it has made it that far and all it has to do is implant on day 6.

Your advice to Battery sounds very logical. Better to enjoy the day with a hope of pregnancy, than seeing an early negative that could be false and will send you to tears. Remind me of that advice too Blue when I am at that stage!

Annie, nice to hear from you. I am in the midst of my 9th IVF and in the past I always had a back up plan. This time I am feeling like there is nothing left to try. I know you said you would only do one IVF. So I would love to hear how you are feeling about things now in moving forward?

Whoppie, welcome! I will PM you back now. :)

Hi shellster I'll be following your progress this cycle, hope it's going well so far. What stage are you at? I really need to print out the thread and catch up with everyone. I'm going to see IVF consultant on Tuesday afternoon to discuss FET of my sole blastocyst. Hoping I can do it in Jan or feb. My NHS ob/gyn has said it's the end of the road for NHS treatment but wants to try ovarian drilling if FET doesn't work. I'm sceptical as I don't have PCOS so don't think I need it. I'm beginning to think I would like to squeeze in one last fresh cycle if FET doesn't work...

Annie, I remember you saying you would only do one IVF cycle and so I was wanting some tips on how you have managed to move forward but I forgot you still have a frozen embryo.

It's reassuring to see it's not just me who can't let go, as you are now considering just one more IVF... despite having to re-mortgage your house to fund your first IVF if I remember correctly?

I never dreamed I would be in the midst of my 9th IVF cycle. I think for now the best plan for us both is too not stress ourselves out to much with what ifs. Focus on your FET and I will focus on my fresh IVF. I started injections on day two of my cycle and am currently at day 4 of my cycle. I have my first scan on day 6. Keep us posted after your appointment.

I blame the peas!

I appreciate the advice, but I will be POAS as early as possible!

I do understand and respect the viewpoint that it is better not to know about a Chemical Pregnancy, enjoy being PUPO as long as possible etc, but I believe knowledge is power. Although I hope to walk away from this cycle with a BFP, if this isn't the case, then I would like to be able to view it as a diagnostic cycle and to be able to take as much information forward into my next cycle as I can to maximise my chances then.

If I do get implantation (early BFP), but then a later BFN, that does tell my consultant information that they wouldn't have if I had indeed waited until OTD.

I completely understand that other people feel differently about this point though, and respect their right to do so

shellster no, not me who remortgaged the house! I just decided once was enough at age 41.. However, you are right I am swaying towards just one more go.. It is so tempting. If I was younger I'd have no hesitation. My parents are worried for me, they have heard stories about the link to cancer and ivf. They are so concerned that I could potentially ruin my life over this. I know that I'm in the state of mind to risk my own health - at times I feel like I want a baby at any cost. I do listen to them because sometimes in this journey I know I have lost all perspective.

Praying and hoping that this is your time shellster xxx

Hen I totally understand your rationale. Knowledge is power! X

Hope everyone is doing well.

farfalla and hen it's good that you're going through this together, it meant so much to me having purple there going through every step with me x

Annie, yes it's so nice having someone on here cycling with you isn't it. And having Purple at the same age helps too. Blue will be not far behind me and we are both poor responders and that feels so reassuring, instead of cycling with someone who will produce 15 eggs while I produce 5.

battery, you are certainly entitled to do whatever is right for you. I certainly hope for you that you don't need to view the result as a part of your diagnostic analysis to gather information for future IVF, but rather that you will be jumping up and down with two positive lines in just a few days time.

How did your other 4 embryos turn out? Very curious as I am just behind you in my IVF cycle.

It was me that has had to re-mortgage to raise the funds for this first IVF/ICSI Shellster that is why I feel worried we are putting so much on this working as I do not know how we would afford to try again if it doesn't work - plus the nurse told us last week as we are waiting until day 5 for transfer it is unlikely there will be any to freeze which if there were it would make another attempt cheaper rather than another £6k! x

Hi all,

Shellster the third egg did not fertilise, they said it looked abnormal so they were not surprised.

battery we certainly are although I had a 2 day transfer so in reality you are a few days ahead of me. OTD is 5th December but its a work Christmas party on the 4th so I am definitely testing that morning and will have a glass of wine if negative. I am also tempted to test early as I am prone to chemical pregnancies and want to see if that is what has happened or not. This waiting is torture though, I have gone back to work because I find it better for my mental state to be back at work!

anroga that must be very stressful, am keeping all crossed for you!

annie hello! I am so sorry your first attempt did not work. The fact you had an embryo good enough to freeze at the blasto stage though is very encouraging! I think I would be happy to do this 3 times but no more. I have found it fine physically but mentally its been quite tough and I have found it has taken over my life and my thoughts. I dream about embryos and its all a bit much!!
I am going to take my daughter to Kew Gardens to the Christmas procession on the 5th so I have something nice to look forward if its a BFN!

It's sad reading about all the money woes, anxiety and frustration on this site. IVF is so stressful in lots of ways. My friends and family don't know the half of it. Here's hoping we all get some Christmas cheer in the form of BFPs all round, so nobody needs to worry about cycle 4,5,6,10,15 or whatever!

AF arrived so I have my baseline scan tomorrow. Feeling nervous about my antral follicle count but hoping for the best. Shellster, I'm right behind you... :)

Battery - you make a very good point about testing early and I completey agree that knowledge is power. That became my mantra throughout our infertility investigations and on my first IVF cycle, which turned out to be successful, I couldn't have been more doom and gloom about its prospects. I truly did not expect it to work and viewing it as being entirely diagnostic made it easier for me to deal with I think.

Keeping everything crossed for all of you cycling now.

I'm waiting for my HCG levels to drop to zero and for my cycle to return - hopefully soon! - so I can do a follow-up appt to discuss next steps at our clinic.